SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 76,792 Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 95.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 76,792 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 171.3% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,626,195 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $123,439,000 after acquiring an additional 3,552,591 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,152,121 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $332,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747,152 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $16,198,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,494,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 2,002.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 612,666 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,327,000 after buying an additional 583,532 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BLMN. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Raymond James upped their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.90.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 0.0 %

BLMN stock opened at $27.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.03 and a 1-year high of $30.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 2.00.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 73.67%. Bloomin’ Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.94%.

Bloomin’ Brands Profile

Bloomin' Brands, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates casual, upscale casual, and fine dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, U.S. and International. Its restaurant portfolio has four concepts, including Outback Steakhouse, a casual steakhouse restaurant; Carrabba's Italian Grill, a casual Italian restaurant; Bonefish Grill; and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, a contemporary steakhouse.